


The Silence of the Books

by asexualclassicist



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Asexual Character, F/F, F/M, Hogwarts, M/M, Magic, Post-Battle of Hogwarts, Romance, Witches, Wizards
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-22
Updated: 2016-03-23
Packaged: 2018-05-28 11:05:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,536
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6326512
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/asexualclassicist/pseuds/asexualclassicist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gordania Finnigan has returned to Hogwarts with her friends James Potter, Scorpius Malfoy and Morna Drummond for their penultimate year. They have to battle their final exams, plan ahead for the future and face new demons.</p><p> </p><p>Come and join the four troublemakers of Hogwarts on their adventures in the old halls as they discover friends and foes, love and dangers. The old gods awaken but can the four wizards stand against them or will their world be destroyed?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. New Year, New Troubles

Gordania Finnigan,17, slumped down in the train compartment opposite her friend Morna Drummond. She sighed and they exchanged smiles and greetings. Now the waiting for the guys commenced. As always.

Gordania Finnigan, 17 years old and in her 6th year at Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. Her dirty blond hair falls down to her shoulders, her eyes are a grey-ish blue and not of petite stature. At 5'9'', she stands taller than most girls at school and her curvaceous body has made her subject to teasing and comments her whole life. Her hips are rather prominent and she knew that a little more sports and exercise would get her the flat stomach that was so desired by the people around her, but her love for books and the comfort of a dusty, old library trumped her wish to fit in. Especially when compared to those bitchy Slytherin girls and sporty Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors, she sticks out like a sore thumb when compared by body image. As a Ravenclaw, her brains are more admired in her house and being elected prefect this year cemented the thought that her body did not matter when compared to her intelligence. Luckily for her, her three best friends were elected with her. The afore mentioned Morna Drummond being one of them. The two of them are the age, Morna a few weeks younger. She’s in Hufflepuff and the best friend Gordania could wish for. She has black hair that she dyed so that it has a bluish tint to it, to match her striking crystalline blue eyes. Her skin is very pale and stands in stark contrast to her hair. She is really pretty and unlike Gordania, very sporty. She is on the Hufflepuff Quidditch team, which accounts for her fit, sporty stature and confident aura. The compartment door opened abruptly to send two boys tumbling inside; Gordania and Morna exchanged bemused smiles and turned their gazes to the heap on the floor.

Introducing James Potter and Scorpius Malfoy. The other half of the group of best friends. James is the oldest son of the famous Harry Potter, the “boy who lived”, who saved the wizarding world from Lord Voldemort, about 25 years ago. James is tall at 6'7" and his black hair is always messy and dangling in front of his green eyes. Also a Quidditch player, his body is packed with muscle and he is always active. He’s in Gryffindor and currently sporting a black eye. Gordania frowned at that, but the two boys were laughing, lying on the floor, so she didn’t comment on it. Scorpius Malfoy, the oldest son of Draco Malfoy, Harry Potter’s old enemy, back when they went to school together, and like his father in Slytherin. Scorpius’ hair is a natural bleach blond that is cropped short at the sides in an undercut and longer, styled on top. The harsh light colour contrasting with his soft hazel eyes. He is just as tall as James and similarly built as he is on Slytherin’s Quidditch team. He, like James, was currently curled up on the floor, laughing so hard Gordania and Morna could see tears rolling down their cheeks. And as per usual, the girls questioned their sanity, but came to no other conclusion, other than their two best friends were absolutely bonkers.

“Boys.” Morna’s voice rang out. “C’mon. You’re prefects now, you have to set examples for the weans and that is not what you are doing just now, rolling on the floor like 5-year-olds.” She clipped and James and Scorpius slowly but surely sobered up and finally stood up to sit down next to the girls. James sat down next to Gordania, his thigh bumping hers, and a tingling feeling shot up her leg, but was ignored.

“Hey.” He murmured, when the Hogwarts’ Express had left Kings’ Cross and they had been driving for a while. Morna had fallen asleep like she always does and Scorpius had left in pursuit of the candy trolley. 

“What’s up?” Gordania asked him, putting her book on Runes down and turning towards him, to find his eyes following her every move.

“I—just wondering what subjects you’re taking this year?” He scratched the back of his head, which just mussed up his hair even more and elicited a laugh from the blonde witch.

“Well. The normal stuff and then Ancient Runes, Muggle Studies, Alchemy and Apparation. What about you? Anything out of the ordinary?” She winked, as she knew for a fact that James might be smart, but he was very lazy. He laughed, loud and deep.

“Nah. Dropped Astronomy, Herbology and History of Magic and took Arithmacy and Apparation.” He said which earned him a raised eyebrow at the mention of Arithmacy. “I know. My dad made me do it and Scorp is taking it too. He was the one to convince me. His dad is really set on him taking it and he didn’t want to do it alone. I’m just too nice to people, ya know?” He folded his arms behind his neck and Gordania chuckled.

“Sure. What about extra-curricular?”

“Ghoul Studies.” He smirked as Gordania laughed. Typical. 

“Ghoul Studies? Seriously? And let me guess Scorp is taking it too, right?” James’ smirk was enough answer. “You guys, honestly, you are the weirdest ones.”

“And that’s why you love us.”

“Must be.” Gordania said with a sigh.

“You love us, huh?! But do you really?” Scorp entered our compartment with his arms full of sweets.

“You got enough of those, Scorp?” James mocked him. He scowled back and just dropped down next to Morna, who just moaned in her sleep and let her head drop onto Scorp’s shoulder. He snorted and looked down at her with a frown, but she was not fazed in her dream state. Gordania knew he didn’t mind it though. He just stacked the sweets in his bag and let her rest.

“Chocolate frog?” he offered his friends, around the one in his mouth and Gordania grinned and took one out of his outstretched hand. 

“I’m not one to decline such a wonderful offer.” She smirked at him and stuck the chocolate in her mouth. James didn’t take one. He never did and if he did he gave it to her later on. It was kind of like a tradition now. They’d done it for so long, she couldn’t even remember when it had started. It must’ve been that one time at one of his father's birthday parties, where he invited her father Seamus, his old school friend, and her family round and James’ grandma Molly had given him a whole box of chocolates and he didn’t want to eat them but also didn’t want to hurt her feelings. So he took them and Gordania found him a few minutes later in the back garden. He had the box of chocolates in his hand and she could see the struggle written all over his handsome face; should he throw them away or struggle through eating them.

“You don’t have to eat them, you know.” She had said to him and he’d whipped around to stare at her.

“But I don’t wanna hurt gran’s feelings, but I really don’t wanna eat them.” He'd answered, looking worried. She had smiled at him and answered:

“I mean, you could just give them to me. I love chocolate!”, and so they sat there in the garden, cross-legged. Gordania was eating the chocolate and he was telling her stories; mostly about the old days of the Battle of Hogwarts that their parents had fought in. It was one of her fondest memories of their time together. 

And even now, after Scorp had sent him a look, James did take one and gave it to her with a smile. She thanked him and ate it, while she pulled out her book on Ancient Studies again.

“You doing Ancient Studies too? Girl, how many subjects you taking?” James exclaimed. I glared at him.

“The ones I told you. This is extra-curriculum. I’m doing Ancient Studies, Art and Earth Magic.” Scorp stared at her, but she just scoffed. “What? It’s interesting!” The boys decided to drop it and started discussing the newest Quidditch news, while Gordania just sighed and returned to her book. 

At some point she must’ve fallen asleep, because next thing she knew James was nudging her awake. She noticed that her head was resting on his shoulder, and she pushed up quickly to look at him.

“We need to change into our robes and then go to the Prefect carriage. There’s a meeting.” He murmured and she nodded before she pushed up to get her robes out of her bag. Morna already had hers and the two girls went to change together.

The meeting was nothing special, just a way to meet other Prefects and a briefing on what their duties were. The other Ravenclaw Prefect was Justin Ayre. He was a tall boy a few months older than Gordania with brown hair and chocolate brown eyes. He played Quidditch for their house. He was a nice boy, with whom she was still quite close friends. They talked and sorted out their duties. Soon enough they had to get off the train and were greeted by Hagrid, the half-giant and ground-keeper of Hogwarts. Gordania greeted him warmly, but they had to move on quickly, because he had to take the first-years in the boats. She grabbed James’ hand and dragged him to one of the carriages; he was teasing Lily again, his little sister, a second year. The two friends jumped aboard the carriage, where Morna and Scorp were already waiting for them. 

“You have to stop doing that to her.” Gordania scolded when they were seated and the carriage was moving towards the castle. “I know she’s your little sister, but you have to seriously stop this. It’s ok to be over protective and all; I get it, but don’t embarrass her in front of her friends.” He looked at her and grumbled something under his breath. “Even though it was quite funny—the way her face turns almost as red as her hair!” She laughed and he soon joined.

“I know right?” James laughed. Scorp and Morna just exchanged a glance of disbelief. 

They arrived at the castle a few minutes later. Gordania looked up and there it was. Hogwarts; she loved this place almost as much as her own home. Its high towers and many staircases and hidden passageways, secret rooms and stories that are the stuff of histories. The carriage came to a stop and Gordania got off first, to go up to the Thestral pulling it. She caressed its bony head briefly and promised to come by later to visit them. The Thestrals were black, bony creatures that many of this who could see them, called ugly and foul. But what else would one expect from creatures that one could only see when having seen death himself? 

“G! Come on! We’re gonna be late.” Morna called out and Gordania hurried to follow them and soon they were sitting in the Great Hall waiting for the new first-years to arrive. Gordania was talking to my friends in Ravenclaw House and they had a great conversation about the Alchemy class that was going to be offered for the first time in a few years, because there had never been enough people that wanted to study it. They hushed though, when Professor McGonagall opened the big doors and led the first-years in who looked nervous yet excited. The Sorting went on without any major events. The new Ravenclaw pupils were greeted warmly at their table and soon the feast began. Everyone ate and talked and was generally happy - the pumpkin juice was delicious as ever and the desert was chocolate. Gordania grinned and looked up to the Gryffindor table. James was already looking at her and smirked, holding up some chocolate and letting it drop into his pocket. She grinned at him and mouthed "library", as a meeting place for the chocolate exchange. He nodded with a smile and went back to eating—well not eating but drinking his juice, since he wasn’t eating the chocolate. To this day she did not understand his distaste for chocolate. He says it’s just always been like that, that he didn’t like the taste of it but Gordania declared bullshit; not that she's complaining. It meant more chocolate for her. She ate another piece of chocolate and then Justin nudged her, they had to guide the newbies to the dorms. She sighed and stood up to follow him, excusing herself from her friends and they went to greet the first-years. 

 

The first-years were all pleasant young witches and wizards - very eager, bright and excited. Gordania and James led them through the castle explaining the rules and giving them the tour. Finally they were standing in front of the door to the Ravenclaw dormitory, located in one of Hogwarts’ towers. They answered the riddle in no time, having all these young ones with us and then led them up the spiral staircase to introduce them to our common room. A circular room, decorated in blue and bronze, our house colours. Blue and bronze curtains were draped around big windows that let in the fading light of the first day back. The domed ceiling, painted dark blue and decorated with stars, matching the dark blue floor. Tables, chairs and book shelves were spread across the room and the marble statue of Rowena Ravenclaw, the founder of Ravenclaw house and one of the founders of Hogwarts itself, stood next to the door to the dorms. We gave them a brief introduction to the house and then Gordania led the girls to their dorms while Justin took the boys. She sorted them into their rooms and then wished them all a pleasant first evening. They were all very excited and talked to each other animatedly. Gordania bid her goodbyes and went to her own room, which she shared with the twins Alyssa and Gwen and where her trunk was already sitting at the end of her bed. 

“Hey guys! The party’s back!” She joked as she waltzed in and the twins looked up and came forwards immediately to hug their friend and roommate. They were shorter than Gordania by a few inches, both ginger with blue eyes and freckles. 

“G! We missed you!” They said as one; they did that a lot—they also finished each other’s sentences which, granted, can be kinda creepy, but endearing at the same time. They exchanged stories about what had happened in the holidays; Alyssa got together with one of the Ravenclaw boys, Luke Brown while Gwen was “forever alone” as she put it. The two also told the tales of their many pranks that kept their house in a constant state of uproar and Gordania cried many tears of joy that evening listening to stories of flying pans and over-sized guinea pigs. After a while though, she excused herself to the library.

“Already? You go and study already? It’s only the first day—unless—“

“—there’s someone waiting there for you!” Alyssa finished Gwen’s sentence - creepy, Gordania shivered.

“What? No! Not in that way. James is just gonna give me his chocolate from dinner.” A collective ‘Awwwww’ sounded from the two girls in front of her. They had the weird idea in their heads that James was crushing on Gordania and no matter how much the blonde girl protested and told them that they really were just friends, they never believed her. Gordania just rolled her eyes at them and left for the library. 

 

Opening the heavy doors to the library, Gordania inhaled the scent of old books that clung to everything in the room. She walked over to the table in the charms section of the library, that was located directly underneath a window and spotted James there, already waiting, with a little pile of chocolates in front of him. She grinned and plopped down in the chair next to him. 

“Hey, how were the first-years?” she asked after taking one of the chocolates from the pile and stacking the rest in her carrier bag.

“A nightmare,” he joked. “They’re all little bloodsuckers that want to kill us.” Gordania laughed. “Seriously though, they're ok. Much quieter than I remember us in our first year.” 

“That might be the absence of a certain Mr Potter and Mr Malfoy, don’t you think?” 

“Maybe,” He laughed. “Okay, probably. So what are you gonna do tonight?”

“I was gonna go see the Thestrals; the sun’s not set yet so I might still have a chance. D’you wanna come with?” She added carefully.

“Sure. I mean I can’t see them but I’ll just keep you company.” He smiled and they left the library to turn into the direction of the Forbidden Forest.

 

The Forbidden Forest was a dark, wild place. There were many creatures in the forest that were friendly, but an equal number was unfriendly. One never knew what one could find there. 

“It’s kinda creepy here, don’t you think?” James’ voice startled her and she turned to look at him. 

“Creepy? More like mysterious. I love this place.” Gordania stretched out her arms and twirled, looking up to the sky. The sun was beginning to set. She stopped and looked at James.

“Come on.” Grabbing his hand, she chuckled. “We have to hurry. It’s almost dark.” She started walking faster and he followed her without a word, never letting go of her hand, as if afraid to lose her.

They arrived at the Thestral clearing a few minutes later and she had to let go of his hand, to go up to them. James stood a few meters behind her just watching. He couldn’t see them; he hadn’t seen death like Gordania had. She went up to the Thestral closest to her and she recognised the one that had pulled our carriage. 

“Hey you, how’s it going?” the Thestral whinnied and swung its head in the direction of the far end corner of the clearing. Following her instructions, she saw something lying on the floor, another Thestral standing next to it protectively. She went towards it very slowly and carefully. The Thestral knew me and didn’t object to my advances. As she neared the little bundle on the ground, she moved slowly and carefully. When she was near enough she saw what it was: a foal. She clapped my hands over her mouth in excitement and stood up straight.

“What is it?” She heard James whisper and turned around to look at him.

“It’s a foal!” She whispered back with a grin, which he returned, if slightly more tense. Gordania reached out to touch it and it whinnied quietly at her touch. It tried to stand up, struggled and fell but after the third try it finally stood. Gordania looked at the mother Thestral and asked for permission for James to come over. She turned to look and studied him for a few moments before nodding her head.

“Come here.” Gordania motioned for the dark-haired wizard to come closer. He looked uncertain but in the end he started walking towards her. She was sure that if he could’ve seen the Thestrals he would’ve run, because every single one of them was watching him intently as if daring him to make a false movement. Gordania grinned knowingly and he sent her a suspicious and worried glance at her expression before whipping his head around to look at the empty clearing. He reached Gordania's side and almost automatically took her hand, which startled her but she didn’t say anything. If she were him, she thought, she would probably be freaking out too, being surrounded by creatures he couldn’t see. He knew what they looked like, she had drawn them once, but he couldn’t see them and she knew him well enough to know that that was very difficult for him. He believed in what he could see, not what people said was there. Gordania smiled reassuringly and took her hand out of his, to take his wrist to guide his hand towards the Thestral foal’s snout. When he touched it, he jumped a bit, but then relaxed into the touch. He looked down at his hand in wonder and Gordania grinned. This was the face she loved most on him; the wonder of having found something new, something amazing, something— extraordinary. The mother whinnied and Gordania knew the Thestrals well enough to know that they should leave. It wasn’t that they didn’t want them there anymore, it was more the fact that the sun was setting and they had to get back to school before the Forbidden Forest came to life or someone at school noticed where the two trouble-makers had gone. Gordania nodded her head at the Thestral and turned to James.

“We have to go. We can come back some other day though if you want. You don’t have to come with me, obviously, since you can’t see them; must be really boring, but you know, if ye wanted…,” he just nodded and took Gordania's hand again. They walked back to the castle in silence. He was acting weirdly - taking her hand and not letting go. And even though Alyssa and Gwen’s taunts floated through Gordania's head, she chose to ignore them. He’d probably just forgotten that he was holding her hand. James dropped her off at the Ravenclaw door and then went to Gryffindor dorms. She stared after him for a few minutes and just before he turned around the corner, he looked back at her and smiled. He mouthed another Sweet Dreams and left. Frowning, Gordania answered the riddle to the Ravenclaw common room and hurried up the stairs to her room. The events of the first day back swirling around in her head, before she lay them to rest on her soft pillow, to ponder over more the next day.


	2. Confessions

The first few weeks of school were uneventful. James and Gordania went out to the Thestrals again a few times and he had developed a sense that allowed him to feel where the Thestrals were. The little foal seemed to like him.

Alyssa and Gwen wouldn't let Gordania forget the fact that James had taken her hand so often that first day. 

 

As Gordania was walking down the hall to Astronomy class with Scorp, the topic turned to the fast approaching Christmas Holiday. 

"So, what are you gonna do for Christmas then?" he asked.

"I don't know actually. I don't really feel like going back to London."

"London? I thought you always spend Christmas at your house in Ireland?" 

"Not this year. Dad said we should spend Christmas with my mum's family and they're in London. Also they're snobs. My grandmother expects me to run around in dresses all the time and be 'a lady' as she puts it; which includes stitching." Scorp laughed and Gordania groaned. "It's not funny, Scorp! I'm serious. I really don't wanna go." He was still laughing, so she flipped him upside the back of his head and he sobered up a bit.

"I think James and I are staying here. Dunno; you could stay too. Just ask your dad, I'm sure he won't say no, I mean he knows that you don't like it there, right?"

"I guess."

"Hey G—", but he never got to finish the sentence, because Professor Hyperion came into the room and the lesson started. 

 

After a rather interesting but dry lesson about Saturn they left the classroom.

"Oh god, that was so—dry. I really enjoy this subject but Hyperion can really make it boring, don't you think?" Gordania looked at Scorpius, but he was staring straight ahead, down the hall. She followed his gaze, but all she could see were the usual groups of girls and boys, huddled together, walking with books in their arms and talking animatedly. Gordania smirked and waved her hand in front of his face to snap him out of it. 

"Yes—erm sorry, G. Sorta lost in thought. You were saying?"

"Who is it?" Gordania asked.

"Wh—what?" he stumbled and she laughed.

"Oh, come on; I can see it written all over your pretty face. Tell me!" 

"There is no one. I swear—" 

"I--i do--on't belie--eve you--u! " Gordania sang and he groaned, hiding his face behind his hand.

"Come on. Please drop it." He murmured.

"Naw! Scorp!" The Irish witch pouted. But before he could say anything else, a heavy arm slung itself around her shoulders, pulling her into a tall, muscular body.

"What's up, guys?" James' deep voice rang out and Gordania scowled up at the boy.

"Scorp was about to tell me a secret and now you've ruined it!" She scoffed.

"A secret? I know them all!" he boasted. Scorpius just walked next to them and Gordania knew he was rolling his eyes at James' comment.

"Oh yeah? So tell me," She leaned in to whisper in James' ear; he leaned down to give her access. "Who's the girl he fancies?" James spluttered and coughed. Ha! I knew he didn't know about this! Gordania cheered silently. And James turned his head to stare at her.

"What?" 

"Oh, don't tell me you didn't know? I could read it off his face!?" Gordania chuckled at James as he turned to stare at Scorpius this time.

"Scorp; you—fancy someone? And you haven't told me? Who is it?" 

"I really don't want to say." Scorpius sighed in relief as Gordania and James had reached their next class; Defence against the Dark Arts. Since Slytherin and Hufflepuff were paired up for this subject and Gryffindor with Ravenclaw, Gordania had the class with James and Scorpius sent them a wink as he hurried to go to his Charms lesson. James and Gordania walked into the classroom, with scowls on both their faces and sat down at their seats at the back of the class. James had insisted on sitting next to her, because that way he could copy her notes. She knew that he actually needed to do that because his note taking was horrendous, which means to say non-existent. As they took their seats, Gordania got her notes out from last lesson. They were learning about werewolves just now and James was as bored by it as usual. 

"It's not like we are ever going to meet one." He had said when Professor Hallor had announced the topic.

"Have you forgotten that Teddy Lupin's dad was a werewolf? Stop complaining and just listen." Gordania had reminded him and he had listened. Well as carefully as James ever listens. 

The lesson was nothing special - they learnt a bit about defence against werewolves and everyone was glad when it was over. Professor Hallor wasn't one of the most exciting teachers and had dragged the subject of werewolves over 10 lessons even though it should only take 3. 

"Hey, you coming to the Quidditch match later?" James asked when they were making their way to their next class, his arm slung across Gordania's shoulders again.

"Who's playing?"

"Gryffindor and Hufflepuff; Morna's playing too. Ah, this is the stupid bit of our friendship. We have to play each other all the time." He groaned.

"Of course I'll be there. I wanna see Morna beat your sorry ass!" Gordania laughed while he took her in a headlock and ruffled her hair.

"James! Ja-ames! No! Stop! Ah, my hair! James Sirius Potter, stop this at once!" He did stop ruffling her hair then as she shrugged his arm off trying to fix her hair.

"Look what you've done. My hair's a mess. I probably look a fright."

"Hey Gordania, what happened to you? Run into a storm with your lover boy? Or did you do something else?" A group of girls walked towards them; they were Slytherin and they had something against Gordania, even though she could never remember doing anything to offend them. Well except for maybe pranking them in first year because they were just too annoying to bear.

"Oh don't be jealous, Isabelle. Just because I could actually get some." She smirked, took James' hand and walked away. They had always been the bane of her life, always teasing and commenting on everything she did. Gordania usually didn't let it get to her - usually. Her dad had taught her well. James had turned awfully quiet, so she turned to look at him.

"James? You ok?"

"Hm? Yeah, yeah; fine. They can't let it go, huh?" 

"Apparently not." Gordania laughed and slung her arm around his waist as his arm found its way across her shoulders again. He kept quiet, so she started babbling about nothing in particular, she hated the silence. Since James didn't seem to know where to go, Gordania led the way to the library. This was the only silence she could bear. The silence of books. Because to her, it wasn't really silent; books always tell a story, if they are read aloud or in silence, if they are open or closed. So she took James to the section of the library in the far corner, where the normal library ended and the forbidden one started. Only when she dragged him over to a chair did he react to anything she did, thanked her and sat down. 

"James, what is it? You are awfully quiet." Gordania looked him up and down in a concerned way, but he just stared at her. Finally after a few minutes of silence he said something.

"G—I don't know how to tell you this..."

"Jamey... You can tell me anything. You know I won't judge." She sat down in the chair opposite him and laid a hand reassuringly on his arm; he drew his arm back immediately as if he'd been stung.

"James?" Now she was really worried. James had never had a problem with physical contact; in fact he was the one who initiated it most of the time. She tried to read something in his face, but he was more unreadable than usual. Gordania scowled.

"Jamey. Come on. It can't be that hard." 

"You have no idea." He muttered. When he looked back up at her, his gaze took her breath away. There was vulnerability in his eyes she had never seen before. He took a deep breath and opened his mouth to say something just as the librarian came over to check on the books on the shelves around them. James cursed under his breath but immediately went mute when the old lady passed them and sent him a death glare because she had obviously heard him. He sent her an apologetic glance and then he turned back to Gordania, took her hand and dragged her out of the library. She didn't ask questions and just followed him. They hurried down multiple corridors, up and down a few staircases until he finally stopped in a deserted corridor on the third floor. Gordania knew this place - it was the entrance to the room of requirement. Even after it had been destroyed at the Great Battle of Hogwarts, the room of requirement had managed to rebuild itself and was now again at the disposal of the Hogwarts student body, those who knew how to enter it anyways. A big cast-iron door materialised in front of them and James pulled her into the room. The room was empty except for a little table under one of the windows; there were chairs and a candle around and on it. Gordania strolled towards it, wondering why James needed them. She heard a shuffle of feet behind her and turned around to look at James. He was clearly nervous, shuffling his feet, biting his lip and fidgeting with his hands. 

"James? What is wrong with you today?" She asked and stepped forward in his direction, but he stopped her and gestured into the direction of the table and chairs. As soon as they sat down, the candle in the centre of the table lit up, casting a warm, soft light over James' harsh features. Gordania could see the flame reflecting in his clear eyes. He looked at her intensely and she was starting to get uncomfortable when he finally spoke up.

"Gordania," Gordania grew nervous now; he never used her full name. "No, no. It's nothing bad, trust me." She wondered briefly if he could read her mind but chose to ignore the nagging feeling in the back of her mind that something big was about to happen. "No. I can't do it like this." Gordania frowned as James stood up, the light coming from the window created an extreme contrast between light and dark on his face and she found herself following him to her feet. Suddenly her back hit the wall as James moved towards her and she moved back. The coldness of the wall was forgotten though as James was suddenly only a few inches away from her. 

Gordania stared up into his gorgeous eyes, she had always loved his eyes. The green reminded me of spring and life. James lifted one if his hands and let it flutter over her cheek before resting it on the wall beside her head. He was leaning over her now and she had trouble keeping her breath even. Gordania's eyes were still fixed on his so that she noticed when his eyes darted over her face and down to her lips. Before she could stop herself, her tongue darted out to wet her lips. This single movement seemed to spark a hunger in James' eyes that she had never seen before. His eyes darted back up to hers and she felt her breath hitch. His face was closer than before, their noses almost touching. Their breathing was laboured, the only sound in the room and Gordania was painfully aware of how little space separated her lips from his. 

When his lips finally touched hers, it was only a light touch, you couldn't even call it a kiss, but Gordania's eyes fluttered close and she let out a breath that she hadn't known she was holding. And then his lips were back, with more force than before and she was responding with an unknown desire. She had never before wanted anyone's lips on hers and even now, James' lips felt foreign and strange but she knew she wouldn't want it any other way.

When they broke apart to catch their breaths, the two witches were both flushed and Gordania could see a grin forming on James' face. She had her arms around his neck, her back still against the wall and his hands were spread over her hips, holding her close. She smiled up at him and he grinned back down at her.

"I wanted to do this since the beginning of term." He confessed and she stared at him.

"Really?" Gordania asked, dumbstruck.

"Really." He confirmed and she leaned up and pecked his lips once more.

"You do know that... I'm... I'm not... um..." She stuttered, her eyes focused on his chest in front of her, suddenly afraid.

"Know what? That you're asexual?" Gordania's head snapped up at his words, on the verge of crying with relief that he knew and had still kissed her.

"I know. You know how Alyssa and Gwen can't keep their mouths shut." James smirked and Gordania sent him a careful smile.

"So... you don't mind?" Gordania asked, peeking up at him through her lashes and was surprised as his booming laughter filled the room. 

"Do I look like I care? The kissing was alright though, right?" He seemed worried all of a sudden and Gordania nodded quickly. "Good. I have something to tell you, too, by the way." Gordania tilted her head in question and stared at him. 

"We seem to be in the same predicament here." Gordania continued to stare at him, not believing - not wanting to believe what she was hearing. 

"I'm ace, too, darling." James whispered and Gordania looked at him with a blank face. "I just really like you and I want to be in a relationship with you and if you don't want to that's totally cool, but-" Gordania cut him off with another kiss. 

"You're rambling." James looked at her and smiled. "I like you, too, you big oaf." She grinned as he rolled his eyes.

"When's your match?" She asked, neither of them had let go yet and personally Gordania didn't want to. 

"At 5." He answered and she looked at her watch.

"You have an hour. When do you need to be there?"

"4:30, which means I have another half an hour to spend with you." He smirked down at her and bent down for another kiss, but she turned her face away so he only hit her cheek and she laughed at his cute puppy dog expression.

"Nah, Mr Potter, look there is lovely food here on the table and you want to waste it?" James stared at her incredulously, but there was indeed food on the table: two goblets of pumpkin juice and two little apple pies. Gordania grinned and pulled James over to the table. He sat down opposite her and downed the goblet whole. She raised an eye brow at him, but he only winked and turned his attention towards the little pie. Gordania only shook her head and took a bite. It was delicious.

 

A good hour and a half later Gordania was sitting in the stands of the Quidditch pitch next to Scorpius and a few other friends. The game was on in its full glory, James had spotted the snitch and was now going at full speed trying to beat the Hufflepuff sneaker off. Morna was concentrating on hitting the bludgers away from her teammates and Gordania and Scorpius were praying that both of them got out alright. Gordania's eyes were following James when Scorpius nudged her and she turned to look at him in question.

"You and James?", was all he asked. She felt my face heat up, but managed to fight the blush down.

"Yeah, so?" Scorpius' eyes bulged which caused her to chuckle.

"I didn't actually expect you to say yes—", he trailed off and she grinned. Scorpius was still staring at her; he started to say something but was interrupted by the sudden cheering and jumping of people around them. The two blondes looked up and saw James with the snitch in his hand, a grin lighting up his whole face. Gordania shot up and started cheering. James seemed to pick up on her cheering because he turned his head to look at her and his grin grew even wider. 

Scorpius and Gordania moved fast, they ran to the exit of the pitch and greeted both James and Morna. Since they had been friends since before first-year even, they had learned to take the other's defeat just like the other's win and even though Gordania could see the disappointment on Morna's face, she congratulated James on his score. Gordania ran to James and hugged him fiercely.

"Well done, Jamey." She whispered into his ear as he closed his arms more tightly around her waist and then reluctantly put her down when the other people from his house came to cheer for him. Gordania stayed back with Scorpius while James was swarmed by fellow Gryffindors and carried off in the direction of the castle. He turned his head to look at his friends once more and they smiled and nodded encouragingly. He returned their smiles and allowed his fellow pupils to carry him off to the Gryffindor common room. Gordania followed them with her eyes until she couldn't see them anymore and then nudged Scorpius.

"Come on. Let's go and find Morna. She's probably gone to get changed." 

"Let's not forget to tell her the good news. She doesn't know yet." He chuckled and Gordania just slapped his arm lightly, laughing with him. They found Morna in the Hufflepuff changing rooms; she was putting her robe on and hoisting up her bag to leave when they entered.

"Ah, there you are. Let's go and get some food; I'm starving!" She puffed and then motioned for her friends to leave. Gordania grinned up at Scorp - this was typical Morna, always thinking of food. How she managed not to look like a pumpkin was a mystery to her friends. Gordania and Scorpius followed Morna to the Great Hall, where she was able to snatch some extra food; god only knows how. 

"Morna," Scorp said after he'd sat down next to her. "G has something to tell you." Gordania glared at Scorpius from across the table and started to say something, but she didn't have enough time before someone plopped down next to her and wound his arm around her waist. She startled and cried out, but it was only James. Gordania turned around to glare at him, but he cut her off with a quick kiss. Personally, Gordania didn't mind this, but only a few seconds later the couple heard someone violently choking on food. Gordania looked up at James first, trying to ignore her burning cheeks and glared at him. His eyes widened a bit.

"I hadn't told her yet, you idiot." She whispered and could see James flushing a bit as he turned around to face Morna and Scorpius opposite them. Scorpius trying to calm Morna down and the Scottish girl still choking on whatever it was she had eaten. When she finally calmed down, her eyes went to and fro between her two friends. James still had his arm around Gordania's waist and it didn't seem like he was gonna let go any time soon, so the two of them just sat there waiting for Morna to say something. After a few moments she spoke up.

"So, you two are like—an item now?" she asked carefully. Gordania looked at James and they nodded in unison. Morna let out a shaky breath. "That's gonna take some time getting used to—actually, no, it won't. You were like a couple before this anyways; just without the kissing thing..." she shoved another fork of something in her mouth and seemed to be almost back to normal. 

"We acted like a couple before?" Gordania questioned. And she didn't even need to look at Morna, she could see it on Scorpius' face who just let out a long sigh. Gordania felt herself blush and when she looked up at James she knew why they had looked like a couple before. He was red like a tomato and it didn't take much to guess that he had been doing it on purpose. She leaned in close and whispered in his ear:

"How long have you known that you liked me?" James blushed even harder, but after a few steadying breaths his face colour was back to normal.

"Erm—long enough." He whispered back. "Look, I already told you that I had wanted to kiss you since the beginning of term; what else do you want?" He looked at her and she decided to drop it. Gordania only knew that she had noticed him in more of a romantic way that day he had caught her when one of the Slytherin girls had tripped her up and sent her flying off the small plateau in the Herbology classroom. James had run up and caught her and his arms had just felt right around her. She also knew that his desk was more toward the back of the classroom, so he must've seen the push coming and already been there to catch her. Gordania smiled and rested her head on James' shoulder as they watched Morna finish – whatever it was that she was eating, they still hadn't figured that out yet. When she was finished, the four of them retired to the Prefect common room. The other Prefects weren't there so they had the two couches to ourselves, Scorpius and Morna plopped down on one of them and Gordania and James on the other and, out of habit, she threw her legs over his lap. That's when she realised what Scorpius and Morna had been talking about: they had been acting like a couple. She couldn't help the laughter bubbling up and her three friends threw her a look.

"What?" She defended herself. "I just realised that you were right; we were acting like a couple." The others joined into her laughter then and James took her hands in his. Gordania looked at him and she didn't know why she hadn't said anything before, now that she thought about it, it was painfully obvious that he had like her in the same way as she had liked him. He always had chocolates for her, even if there hadn't been chocolate for desert, he'd ask her to help him with his studies almost every day. He always found a reason to be closer to her than usually and he had been more protective over her than ever before. Oh, James.


End file.
